A 20-year-old Queens woman claims she was sexually harassed by her boss at Radio Shack in Springfield Gardens. It was Ashley Moreno’s first job and left her feeling disgusted.
It didn’t take long for the alleged harassment to begin. Monero began work at the Springfield Gardens Radio Shack in March 2013 and her boss, Simon Douglas, began making crude sexual comments, and unwanted advances, according to the lawsuit. Her offered her unwanted rides home and touched her inappropriately.
Nobody should have to endure text messages such as are alleged Douglas sent to Moreno. “Come by so I can see that sexy a–” and “Do you know what I’ll do if your clothes come off?” When those sexual advances at work were unsuccessful at getting her attention, Douglas sent a request for naked photos, asking “You want to send me some nude pics so I could get hyped?”
Douglas is also alleged to have pulled at Moreno’s bra straps and patted her buttocks. Behavior like this is inappropriate in any context, let alone a boss/employee relationship. The harassment escalated in Douglas “slobbering all over her lips as he tried to kiss” his young employee, according to the suit.
Moreno rebuffed his advances and in return was cited for mistakes at work and termination was threatened. New York attorney Derek Smith is representing Moreno and explained, “She had to endure the sexual harassment or lose her job.”
There was a light at the end of the tunnel for Moreno, she was transferred to a Radio Shack in Woodhaven and once she told the human resources department about what had been going on, Douglas was fired in 3 days. But a young woman should not be forced to leave her place of employment because her boss cannot control himself.
But, according to court papers, even after Douglas was fired, other employees sent Moreno messages chastising her for getting Douglas fired and “taking food out of his kids’ mouth.” It proves how difficult it can be to come out against a popular employee when they have done something wrong. But without people speaking up against this kind of abuse, the vicious circle of abuse often continues.
Imagine being a 20-year-old college student and your first experience in the workforce leads to sexual harassment. This shouldn’t happen in your first job — or during any point in your professional career. If you have been the victim of unwanted sexual advances, touching or sexting at work, our New York City law firm can help.
The Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC handles a multitude of cases that involve sexual harassment in New York City. For further information, please feel free to call us at 800-807-2209 for a free consultation or email at dtslaws@msn.com.
